PHOTO BY ALEXIS KAPPEL

Michaela Blaney’s life is like a romantic comedy: A Big City girl moves to a small town to follow her dream of opening a health food store and ends up falling in love in the process.

The longtime Los Angeles resident is head-over-heels for Sewickley and her new life there.

Mic’s Market, her upscale micro grocer at 537 Beaver St., debuted on Oct. 14 to sell-out crowds. In addition to selling better-for-you snacks, beverages and deli options, the former Subway restaurant serves hot, homemade grub that, despite its nutritional value, tastes like a Cheat Day indulgence. An onsite-smoothie bar is also in the works

The shop’s motto is “It feels good to feel good.”

After a week or two of burgers and fries (research for a future article) I was in need of something wholesome. 

Mic’s offers a hot food bar daily from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. (or until it’s gone). The menu, which incorporates fresh, seasonal ingredients, is posted each day on social media. Customers pick a protein (veggie, chicken, or steak/fish) and add two sides either from the bar or the deli case.

PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

Chef de Cuisine Amanda McShan and Sous Chef Andrew Alvarez hooked me up! My compostable plate was loaded with a little bit of everything: meatballs made from ground chicken, quinoa and flax, Asian brisket, lemon pepper baked tofu, Brussels sprouts in a sesame miso vinaigrette, roasted rainbow carrots and mushrooms and a mashed up mix of sweet potatoes and honeynut squash. I washed it all down with a Kroma Change Your Life Chai Latte because my diet desperately needed to do a one-eighty.

And you know what? After lunch I did feel good. With my newfound focus, I made a mental note to come back for a Mic’s breakfast burrito, available every day starting at 8 a.m. 

“Being nourished and being fed are two different things,” Blaney says. “We are trying to nourish people.”

A Canadian native, Blaney spent 12 years in Hermosa Beach, California, where she owned and operated a star-studded, full-service digital marketing agency, but started to suffer from burnout. 

Bolstered by her lifelong obsession with clean eating, she became a certified health coach, sober living advocate and online wellness influencer with more than 55,000 followers. 

She posts tips, tweaks popular recipes to make them more balanced and gives honest critiques of products from around the world, from organic, plant-based candies and dairy-free milk to grass-fed beef jerky and non-alcoholic beer. 

Blaney wanted to take her internet success and turn it into a brick-and-mortar business where she could connect with people in person. 

While in Pittsburgh visiting friends (HGTV star Leanne Ford and her husband, Erik Allen Ford, co-founder of the Buck Mason clothing brand), Blaney watched “It’s Complicated,” a Nancy Meyers film starring Steve Martin and Meryl Streep. In the movie, the main characters open a bakery; a clean, bright and airy space with a legion of loyal patrons.

Mic’s is like a healthier version of Streep’s make-believe shop. “It’s Complicated” taught her the importance of living simply.

Two months after the fateful movie screening, Blaney moved to the ‘Burgh and spent another two years perfecting her plan. With a knack for retraining people’s brains and taste buds, she hopes to offer classes and other educational components to her company. Since February, she’s been dishing out advice in Pittsburgh Magazine’s Be Well coverage and newsletter.

“I’m a big believer in micro habits; small, attainable changes in your life,” she says. 

Her employees say they’ve been “Mic’d” — they’re eating healthier without feeling deprived of their favorite foods. I even saw a little boy enter the store and beg his mother for cinnamon-coated organic corn puffs.

Talk about a Hollywood ending.